Humans

[Xenephale Fairfeather]

I see humans as a heavily limited species, largely incapable of free thought, with the potential to become something more than that. Most "humans" won't take this potential into their hands because it's far too difficult. Much simpler just to accept someone else's rule, society's definition of right and wrong, and one of the many religions affluent in the masses. A human by my definition is a lazy, pompous, self-centered and fairly worthless ball of wasted potential. Therefore, in my mind, mass-murderers, psychotic killers, and the like, are not and cannot become less than human. In fact, they are completely human, an insult by my standard. So I ask you this. Rather than try to define what it means to be less than a human, how about you try to discover what it means to become more than a human?


Also, for all you doomsayers out there, please, stop it before you lose even more face with me. Global warming is a complete load of hogwash. I'm a meteorologist, I've looked into it, and humanity has absolutely miniscule effects on the Earth's atmosphere. We did not start global warming. Sure, the polar ice caps are melting by an "astounding number" every year, but there are two really big factors in that that most people don't consider. First is that the Earth goes through a cycle like this perpetually, one with such a large time span that we can't accurately measure whether or not this is truly out of control. (Which, by my guess, it isn't) Second is something called the Yellowstone Caldera. Look it up sometime. It's what we term a Super Volcano. It used to be a tourist attraction, but in recent years they had to close down the hiking trails around it due to the immense heat coming out of the area. They're starting to get concerned about it because it's also been killing the local buffalo population with the gas emissions coming out of it. (Which brings up another point. Volcanoes produce more pollutant gases than we do) One of the newer generations will probably see this thing erupt. It's going to happen, and it's got a lot of people scared to death. This volcano, when it finally erupts, will launch volcanic ash into the stratosphere, causing an effect similar to the proposed "nuclear winter". The ash itself is going to be full of rocks and heavy material that will, by itself, kill large numbers of people worldwide. Not to mention the extreme result of the winter itself will leave humanity lacking for it's formerly grand scale of population. And once this climate alteration is finished, the ash settles, and things go back to the way they were, "global warming" will cease to exist.

Now, granted my opinion only bears weight as far as the atmosphere is concerned, one thing remains firm in my belief. Humanity has no effect on the planet. We will not destroy Earth. We will destroy ourselves, Earth itself will survive, and once it recovers from whatever damage we did cause, it will be time for a new species to take over dominance. There's no point worrying about the Earth being destroyed. That's not to say that decreasing pollution is a bad or pointless thing, but there's no way to stop it. If we start up more "economical" methods that produce less "pollution", we'll soon discover it pollutes the planet in some other way.

Read Jurrasic Park sometime, page 367, "Destroying the World." Learn something from Ian Malcom's Chaos Theory.  

[Speak to me Muse]

Could the fact that we think we are better than all other things make us human? sweatdrop  

[Dare-U]

it Depends...
The Catholic church says that the difference [or what makes us human] and sets us apart from being animals is that Humans apparently have a spirit/soul. (WTF to that.)
from what I understand.

I Believe humans are creatures that are set to increase or decrease in knowledge.
Humans are blind if no eyes are open willingly and they are bound to make mistakes.
We're animals crawling mother earth, no different than Basic Animals that crawl too.  

[The Green Jester]

I always thought humanity was us humans.  

[SCHELSTEDER]

420FienD420

I thought it was about time I started a new thread. Behold:
What is humanity?
Because we look and act a certain way does that make us humans?
If so, what is inhuman?
Can one become inhuman?

Have fun! ^_~

coooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooool  

[Calypsophia]

hmm what makes us human.. or what is it that separates us from other animals? humans are animals after all.. but we are different. aside from our opposable thumbs (every animal has a special tool at it's disposal in order to survive in this world and that is one of ours), I think it's our ability to take our lives out of natures hands and into our own. some religious folk would attribute that to the eating of the tree of knowledge of good and evil, but I see that merely as a metaphore for what I'm trying to explain. in nature, it is the laws of nature and chance that decide what happens to whom. in civilization, 'chance' is still there, but we have control over everything else. we cure disease, we create weapons we are not born with (other animals only have their instincts and what they are born with, as in claws, sharp teeth, poision..) to make us more formidable. we dont have to hunt for our food, as we know the secrets of agriculture, and perhaps most importantly.. we have the capacity for compassion.. not only for those of our own species, but others too, and the world at large. life in the natural world is hard, cold, cruel, and uncaring. if a gazelle gets caught by a cheetah, the rest of the gazelle herd goes on. tho elephants seem to have a sense of emotion or reverence for their own dead, if an elephant see's an injured or sick lion dying and not strong enough to hunt, it will go on it's way and pay the lion no mind. we are different. or I should say... we are capable of being different.

humans arent perfect. we have psycho's among us, war-mongers, religious fanatics (sometimes coinciding with the war-mongers).. but that capacity for compassion is what stands out. no where else, that I can think of in this wide world of ours.. in no other species have I seen or heard of the potential for such love. there is enough uncaring in nature. nature doesnt discriminate, it doesnt play favorites, if something dies it dies. if it's hurt then it's hurt and will likely be lunch for something else. but in our compassion, we CAN make a difference. not that we DO make any kind of difference all the time, it's unfortunate that we are also very self serving and our greed tends to overcome compassion (when we decimate a species for farming land, or houses.. or seek to exterminate our predatory competitors like wolves and cougars)... but the *potential* for compassion is there. it exists in us where it doesnt elsewhere.  

[Calypsophia]

420FienD420

And I bring forth my oldest arguement:
What are we?
Are we human? Simply because we say we are does not make it so, human attitudes are what make us 'human,' and those who are different are labelled as 'unhuman,' almost as if the human cannot comprehend the entirety of its behavior, along with its faults. Anything that scares the human is not real, is not here, is not anything, and therefore, the human tries to get rid of it, the examples are everywhere, from the Salem witch trials, to the present day executions of the 'criminals' that 'plauge the world'. Good and bad are similar. Truly the human has made the concepts itself, because no one told them that it was so, no one told them that good was treating people fairly and kindly, and always being polite. Every human wishes to be 'good' because it is not something in their nature, it is not something that it can have, so it wishes desperately to own it, just like all of the things that it is denied. And if you are saying to yourself, "of course someone told the human that good was good and bad was bad, God did," then I challenge you. Who made the concept of God? The humans saw their own weakness, so they made a person or entity that would never truly exist, so it could have no faults, no pain, no distrust, and nothing that would remind the human of its own imperfections. Now if you say "this person thinks of themselves as more then human," I challenge you once again. I do not think I am any more or any less then the human, I just am. I am here, and I see the imperfections of the world around me, and in me, but I do not think of myself as any more then the human. I am a silent observer. Or I was. Until I realized that many do not see the human as I do. I do not expect you to embrace my theories, but I hope you will not totally dismiss them. They are what I have noted through my years of being human, through witnesses the strengths and weaknesses firsthand, and questioning my way of life. I do wish for a reprive from the stupid repitition of each pointless day, doing exactly what I am told to "if I'm ever to survive in this world" but I long for a way that I can do what I wish, and observe the humans, as I do now, but separate from the feelings that plaugue them, make them weak, but also being a part of them. If you still follow my train of thought, I wish to leave you something to think about, if humans make their own world, and we are part of the humans, why can't we make ours? The answer is in your mind, in your heart, in everything you see, everything you breathe. You can. But no one ever will. And you know why? Because they'll never accept the fact that they can. Which is why I had to write this.

I think you're argument is sound, and we quite possibly have a similar opinion as to what 'humans' are.  

[Calypsophia]

Kenutsu Yasashiku

Sorry I did not read each of your posts yet, but wow... they are quite long.

Anyway, here is my opion.

You are asking if we are human and what makes us human.

In one sense, we are all human and nothing anyone says or does can change it. We all are born as homo sapiens, we eat, live and breath as homo sapiens and die as homo sapiens. Quite often human is used to mean homo sapien therefor we are all human.

Now if you mean humane... that is a different story. Behing humane is all about someone elses, usually societies, opinon on how you treat other things. Usually, someone who is nice to everything is considered humane and someone who is a mass murderer is considered inhumane. Also, human is occasionally used to mean humane. So yes, it is possible to be considered human or unhuman.

Weither or not this means you are or are not human really depends on which angle you are taking on the word human.

to be 'humane' means to be 'compassionate'. funny how the word 'humane' is derived from the word 'human'. pretty much what I said about one of the most important differences between humans and all other species is our capacity for compassion. smile